If we are honest with ourselves, life these days is a bit too comfortable. I know… I know… we are stupidly busy, and seem to be rushing around everywhere, but everything we might possibly want is just a click away. We sit more than we move, and our biggest daily exertion might be reaching for the remote, or maybe throwing the monitor across the room as we face one more online call.

However, and here’s the thing you already intuitively know: your body isn’t built for stillness. It’s built to do stuff. To move. To lift, walk, climb, stretch, carry, sweat.

And when we don’t give it that kind of work? Our brains throw a bit of a wobbly. You might feel anxious for no clear reason, distracted all the time, or just a bit… meh. That’s not some mysterious personality flaw – it’s your brain reacting to a life with not enough physical effort. 

Strange, isn’t it? But totally true.

The fix? Move your body. And not just for the sake of getting a bit fitter or toning up — though those are great bonuses too. Regular, physical effort does wonders for your mind. It boosts your mood, clears your head, and helps you focus. Basically, getting sweaty can seriously sort you out.

As I’ve written about before, I started Power of One Fitness because I was enthralled by the book written by eminent Harvard professor of clinical psychology, Dr. John Ratey, which examines so many scientific papers demonstrating how exercise and movement are so beneficial for the human brain. In fact he describes movement as MiracleGro for the brain, with it even helping the brains of octogenarians to build new synapses and grow.

Now, if you’re thinking, “Yeah, but I’m too unfit / too old / too far gone,” let’s stop that thought right there. It’s never too late. Honestly. Wherever you’re starting from – even if the last proper exercise you did was in P.E. at school – you can begin again. No one’s expecting you to run a marathon tomorrow. Start with a walk. Stretch. Drink some more water. Move your body in ways that feel manageable for you. Perhaps a client testimonial might illustrate this better than me:

“David takes the time to get to know his clients and figure out what motivates them, and more importantly, what doesn’t. David understands what makes me tick. He isn’t afraid to challenge me but does it in a way that feels really encouraging and never humiliating. He is always keen to celebrate the small successes that have combined to bring me so far in the time I’ve worked with him. This is a million miles away from those awful PE lessons at school. I never thought I’d feel so at home in a gym, or enjoy workouts as much as I do.”

There’s this idea that if you haven’t started already, you’ve missed the boat. But that’s just your brain talking nonsense again. “Too late” isn’t a real thing – it’s a story we tell ourselves to avoid discomfort. The truth? You’re not too late. You’re bang on time for a fresh start.

Of course the best time to have started was yesterday. But the second-best time is today. And that’s pretty great, actually. Today, right now, could be the least fit you’ll ever be again. How exciting is that thought?

So go on. Lace up your trainers. Step outside. Stretch. Breathe. Get your heart beating a bit faster. You don’t need a gym membership or fancy kit – you just need to start. And once you do, your body and your brain will both start waking up in ways you might not have expected.

You’ve got this. One step at a time (please excuse the dad joke!). But if you’d like help getting started, I would love to hear from you. We can work together to figure out what you like doing, don’t like and what your programme could look like. Click the link below to get a chat in the diary. 👇👇👇👇👇👇